The work is getting done. So why is everyone exhausted?

A team can keep meeting deadlines, supporting customers and getting through the work while still running on empty.

From the outside, things may look fine. Targets are being met and projects are moving. No one is raising a major issue. But look a little closer and there may be other signs: people regularly working late, skipping breaks, carrying growing backlogs or relying on workarounds just to keep things moving.

When that happens, it can be tempting to focus on wellbeing initiatives or encourage people to take better care of themselves. Those things can have a place, but sometimes the more useful question is much simpler. Perhaps we should be reflecting on what is it about the work that is making people so tired?

Delivery can hide strain

Busy periods are part of working life. A major project, seasonal peak or unexpected absence can put extra pressure on a team for a while.

The problem is when temporary pressure quietly becomes the normal way of working.

Leaders may start to notice repeated overtime, missed breaks, increasing errors, unfinished work or employees saying they simply do not have enough time. People may still be delivering, but only because they are continually stretching themselves to do it.

High job demands can also be a psychosocial hazard, particularly when combined with factors such as low job control, poor support or a lack of role clarity.

Australian Industry Group’s toolbox talk on navigating unreasonable work demands provides further practical guidance for employers.

Look at the work, not just the worker

If a team is exhausted, start by looking at how the work is organised.

Consider:

• Workload: Is the amount of work realistic for the people and time available?
• Priorities: Does everyone know what matters most or does everything feel urgent?
• Role clarity: Are responsibilities clear or are people constantly filling gaps?
• Control: Do employees have reasonable input into how they organise and complete their work?
• Support: Do people have the information, resources and manager support they need?
• Work design: Are unnecessary processes, meetings or approval steps making straightforward work harder?

A useful starting point is to undertake a high-level review of your current approach. Australian Industry Group’s Psychosocial Hazards Readiness Checklist can help you consider your existing systems and identify areas that may need further attention.

• Access the Psychosocial Hazards Readiness Checklist

Five questions worth asking

Before introducing another wellbeing initiative, leaders could ask:

1. What can stop, wait or be done differently?
2. Are we asking people to manage competing priorities without telling them which one comes first?
3. Where could employees have more say in how the work gets done?
4. What practical support or resources are missing?
5. What process, meeting or approval is making the job harder than it needs to be?

Importantly, ask the people doing the work. A dashboard can show that deadlines are being met. It cannot always show what employees are doing behind the scenes to meet them.

Support people without shifting the problem back to them

An Employee Assistance Program can provide valuable confidential support for employees dealing with personal or work-related concerns.

But EAP should not become the answer to every workplace pressure.

If exhaustion is being driven by excessive workload, unclear priorities, limited control or inadequate support, those factors still need attention. Offering counselling does not remove the need to look at what is happening in the workplace and whether something can reasonably be changed.

Make sustainable delivery part of everyday leadership

The aim is not to create a workplace where no one ever feels busy. Most organisations will have demanding periods.

The challenge is recognising when a demanding period has become business as usual.

After a busy project, vacancy, restructure or operational peak, take a moment to ask what the team had to do to get through it.

• What worked?
• What created unnecessary pressure?
• What should change before the next busy period arrives?

Sometimes the clearest sign that a team needs support is not that the work has stopped getting done.

It is that people are having to work harder and harder to keep getting it done.

Further information

For further support, members can access Australian Industry Group guidance on managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace, explore relevant health and safety training, including training for managers and supervisors or call our Workplace Advice Line on 1300 55 66 77.